These are the times that try Buster Posey’s soul.
Well, maybe that’s a tad dramatic for late May baseball. But you gotta grab a reader in the Jock Blog, lest he or she doom scroll somewhere else.
Today’s focus is the task facing the new Giants president of baseball operations.
He rode a wave of good vibes with his hiring in October of 2024. And his winter signing of Willy Adames was a can-do move, shoring up shortstop and making San Francisco look like a destination again.
Spring training was full of good vibes: no major injuries and lots of Cactus League wins.
And then the start to the season! Wilmer Flores’ dramatic swat on Opening Day in Cincinnati! The epic home opener! Eleven innings, a couple of blown leads, a couple of comebacks and a 10-9 lid-lifter at McCovey Cove that made us all feel good.
By the time the Giants were a season-high 10 games over .500 on May 7 —24 wins, 14 losses after a 3-1 win at Wrigley Field behind Robbie Ray and Wilmer Flores, natch — we were convinced that the Posey-Zack Minasian-Bob Melvin plan of steady lineups, regular starting pitching and an outrageously good bullpen had the Gigantes becoming the darlings of the Bay.
Since then, cracks in the foundation.
Swept in Minnesota, scoring only one run twice. Losing two of three to Arizona at home, once when Justin Verlander got “Matt Cain’d”, and once when Jordan Hicks got lit up. A sweep of the A’s calmed the waters, but the Royals took two of three at Oracle Park when Logan Webb had a rough start. Eesh.
And then, getting swept in Detroit with the quietest of bats brought out the worrywarts. Buster Posey suddenly went from the toast of the town to the guy who had to answer questions.
What is he going to do at first base, where LaMonte Wade’s lengthy ride on the interstate has gone beyond the “stay patient” stage?
When is Willy Adames going to post an OPS over .650, or even something more than a negative WAR?
How much can Patrick Bailey’s good defense mask a .174 batting average and gosh-awful .489 OPS?
Buster came on our morning show and answered some of these head-on: Pat Bailey is the catcher, full stop. Be patient with Adames, he’s a “dude”. The only position where Posey didn’t offer full support was first base, where he suggested names like Casey Schmitt, Wilmer Flores and the soon-to-return Jerar Encarnacion as possible tenants in a “time share” at first base with Wade.
I got the impression that Wade’s lease is more month-to-month than multi-year.
They were Posey-esque answers: calm, measured, respectful. When asked to assess the big picture of a team that is 7-11 since May 7, Posey took us inside his “next pitch” brain, saying his answer to that is the same as he had as a player: how to beat the Marlins in Miami on Friday night.
It was all very assuring. Having Posey in charge is never something a Giants fan should lament.
But the question remains: how will Posey react to the first losing stretch of his executive career?
As mentioned at the outset, it is not even June yet. But it is June on Sunday. It’s probably too early to make a trade. My partner Markus Boucher asked Posey about acquiring a bat, and Posey played poker, saying it’s all about supply and demand. One begins to look at teams already fading — the A’s, White Sox, Orioles, Pirates, Marlins, for example — and size up possible trades. The Giants have young pitching galore. Stay tuned on that.
No, Posey’s soul is not tried by a two-week stretch of bad offense and mostly losing baseball. There are, of course, 106 games left.
But it is time to see how he reacts, particularly at first base.
Buster Posey is focused on the next game, and things will happen in that game, and the next game, and the game after that, that inform these very interesting decisions for a rookie president of baseball ops.
We will learn a lot more about 28, the executive, soon.
Check out the full Buster Posey interview with Murph & Markus here: https://omny.fm/shows/the-executives-show/5-29-buster-posey-joined-murph-markus-this-morning-to-discuss-the-state-of-the-team-balancing-elite-defense-with-the-lack-of-offensive-production-for-patrick-bailey-the-short-term-plan-at-first-base